UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS, YANGON
MBA PROGRAMME
MBA124 MARKETING MANAGEMENT
December 2016
Lecturer: Dr. Sein Min
Contact: drseinmin@gmail.com
Google Site: http://bit.ly/1VRn284
Lesson Plan
Lectures
1. Defining Marketing
2. Marketing Strategies and Plans
3. Gathering Information and Scanning Environment & Marketing Research
Tutorial 1
By Aye Nyein Win | Wednesday, 20 July 2016
Suzuki Motor Corporation is planning to expand its operations in Myanmar with a factory in Thilawa special economic zone that will start production in 2018, the company’s managing director said yesterday.
The Japanese multinational first started making automobiles and motorcyclesin Myanmar in 1999 at a joint-venture factory with the government in Yangon’s South Dagon township.
“After 12 years of operations we had to stop production, as our investment permit expired,” said managing director Takayuki Sugiyama of Suzuki (Myanmar) Motor Company. “However, we maintained the facilities and restarted production in May 2013, with a new licence.”
The company must rely on local suppliers, which Mr Sugiyama said was a major challenge. For this and other reasons, he said, Suzuki has bought 20 hectares of land in Thilawa SEZ and will build its own factory there.
He said he hopes the government will set reasonable policies around car imports. Since the previous government opened the market for imports in 2011, more than 7 million cars have been brought into the country.
The current government must now decide whether it will encourage more imports or support the market for local production, Mr Sugiyama said.
“Foreign investors like Myanmar, because it has a lot of land and human resources. But they are wary of investing because there are no clear laws or policies on the automobile industry,” U Khin Maung Kyaw, president of the Automobile Policy Drafting Task Force told The Myanmar Times.
“They want precise laws to protect their investments. That is why we are trying to come up with a clear automobile policy that can contribute to a win-win solution between Myanmar and foreign countries.”
Neighbouring countries such as Thailand have developed into automobile manufacturing hubs, he said, adding that even if Myanmar is unable to export homemade vehicles, it would at least be able to sell them domestically.
“But I should emphasise that we must manufacture the cars that are suitable for Myanmar, for example those with 1.3cc engines, which are cheap enough for many people to buy,” he said.
“Economy-class cars, to match Myanmar’s economic situation.”
Source: http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/21485-suzuki-to-open-yangon-factory-in-2018.html, accessed on 8 December 2016.
QUESTION
Suppose you are a marketing manager of Suzuki Mortor Corporation responsible for Myanmar market.
(a) How would you analyse the Myamar marketing environment (both macro and micro environment)?
(b) Conduct the five forces analysis for automobile industry in Myanmar and draw some implications for Suzuki Motor Corporation.
Lectures
4. Analyzing consumer markets
5. Analyzing business markets
6. Identifying Market Segments and Targets & Crafting the brand positioning
Tutorial 2
Ya Kun Coffee & Toast in Yangon
Coffee is a favorite beverage of people around the world. Myanmar consumers prefer too to drink coffee as a staple beverage for many years. Coffee is drunk at home or at café (also known as tea shop in Myanmar.) Sipping coffee or tea and chatting with friends at tea shops is a habit for many Myanmar people, young and old.
Traditional tea shops that sell both tea and coffee are present everywhere in Myanmar. In these days, as the country has opened her door and a lot of foreigners are visiting Myanmar, modern cafés are also established in major cities and towns. In parallel with the increasing number of modern cafes, coffee plantation in Myanmar has been increased and different sorts of coffee are being offered in retail outlets. Coffees sole in outlets are both gourmet coffee and instant coffee like 3-in-1.
One of the cafés in Myanmar which are in origin of a foreign country or in international chain is Ya Kun Coffee & Toast, Ya Kun is Singaporean chain of mass-market, retro-ambience cafes selling toast products (notably Kaya toast), soft-boiled eggs and coffee. Founded by Loi Ah Koon in 1944, Ya Kun remained a small family-run stall for decades, but have expanded rapidly since Loh’s youngest son headed the business in 1999, They have 70 over outlets, mostly franchised , across seven countries (China, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, South Korea, Taiwan and Philippines) and are a Singaporean cultural icon, known for their traditional brand identity and conservative, people-centric corporate culture.
Ya Kun opened its first coffee outlet in Myanmar in FMI centre near to the popular Bogyoke Aung San market. Recently, the 5th outlet was opened in Myanmar Plaza. The foods and drinks offered in Ya Kun are in Singapore and Malaysian style, with high hygiene standards, but with affordable and reasonable prices. The shops are expected to be popular in Yangon and gaining increasingly the brand awareness and high scores of customer satisfaction.
Questions:
Suppose you are the marketing director of the Ya Kun Coffee & Toast in Myanmar.
(a) What will be your growth strategies to be pursued in Yangon? (Present details about the strategy and the rationale behind the strategy.) [10 marks]
(b) What is your approach to develop customer-driven strategies? (State market segments, the target market and the positioning strategy.) [15marks]
(c) What is your marketing programme for a specific market segment? (State the selected target market and present in details the marketing elements in the programme.) [15 marks]
Lectures
7. Dealing with competition
8. Setting Product Strategy
9. Designing and Marketing Services
Tutorial 3
Myanmar Retailing Industry and Prospects
Myanmar is underdeveloped in the production and distribution of goods and services, despite of apparent growth in recent days in line with changes in the political climate and international relations. Myanmar retailing industry is counted for 15% of GDP or 7.5 billion USD. The retail institutions are changing their styles and operations.
According to Colliers International, Yangon's total retail gross leasable area was estimated to be around 150,000 sq. meters in 2013-14. This total includes all types of retail formats such as shopping malls, hypermarkets, departmental stores, convenience stores and residential and commercial shops. In addition, the retail stock is expected to double in 2017-18.
Popular retailers in Myanmar are Asia Light, ABC Convenience Stores (50 outlets in Yangon), Capital Hyper Market, City Express Convenience Stores (30 outlets), City Mart Supermarkets, Gamone Pwint Departmental Stores, Gandamar Wholesale, Grab and Go (which just started with 10 branches in 2013 and quickly extended to 98 branches in Yangon and 14 in Mandalay), Market Place Supermarket, Orange Supermarkets, Ocean Super Center, Ruby Mart Supermarkets, Star Mart Supermarkets, GQ Convenience store, KumuDra Convenience Store, Shwe Paline Mini Mart, Pyae Wa General Store and Union Mini Mart. Top shopping centers are Junction Square, Taw Win Centre, Ocean Super Market, Myanmar Plaza, Maw Tin Center, Hledan Center, Sein Gar Har, Culture Valley Yangon, United Living Mall, Gamone Pwint, Yuzana Plaza, Ruby Mart, Parkson, Super One, and Capital Hypermarket. Better quality retail malls are expected to increase in 2017-18 to match international standards and demand by the foreign F&B chains. The popular F&B chains mostly seen in modern malls are KFC, Swensen’s, Pizza Hut, Gloria Jean’s, BBQ Chicken, Lotteria, Harley’s, Thai Express and Freshness Burger.
QUESTION
(a) What are the opportunities and challenges in the retailing industry in Myanmar?
(b) Identify the key success factors of the retailing industry in Myanmar?
(c) Suggest the areas to be imporved so that Myanmar domestic retailers are competitive against international retailers such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and 7Eleven.
Lectures
10. Developing Pricing Strategies and Programmes
11. Designing and Managing Integrated Marketing Channels
12. Designing and Managing Integrated Marketing Communication
Tutorial 4
Padamya Café and Ad Campaign
Padamya is a Burmese name of ruby and Myanmar produces a lot of qood quality rubies well known in the world. Padamya is also a famous name among the MBA students and graduates of Yangon Economic University, because the MBA course has been conducted more than twenty years ago in the Hlaing campus and in the Padamya building. This building is belonged to the Department of Management Studies of the Yangon Economic University and this is the only place at which the MBA programme is conducted.
A group of young graduates from the above mentioned MBA programme gained an idea of starting up a café targeting to the young adult who attain MBA or similar degrees and to develop a community which promote management knowledge matching with actual business practices. The aim of café is to be a sort of not-for-profit organisation, however it should be well positioned with quality and standards. The café would be also operated business like and the performance must be measured in business terms.
Question
You are given the task of development of a marketing communication programme in the launch of café in 2017.
Prepare and present the integrated marketing communication plan, based on your assumed marketing strategy and plan.
Assignment Question (Individual)
Markets are made up of buyers and the nature and characteristics of markets are shaped by the buyers’ characteristics and behavior. Discuss that Myanmar consumers are holding distinctive characteristics as a result of Myanmar’s social and economic conditions. Imply also some impacts of them on marketing of consumer goods.
[100 marks]
Assignment Question (Group)
Myanmar is considered often as a land of opportunity for international businesses. Myanmar’s natural environment and geographical location attract many foreign firms to invest and do business in Myanmar. Among others, international fast food and beverage chains are highly interested in setting up their business operations in Myanmar. In particular, McDonald’s is keen to open its restaurant chains firstly in Yangon. However, it seems that Myanmar is not yet ready to patronize such type of modern fast food shops due to a number of factors, including income, culture, lifestyle and brand awareness. On the other hand, some believe that it is the earlier the better to penetrate the market, as Myanmar can grow fast in the near future.
You and your teammates are asked to study the Myanmar (particularly Yangon) market with regard to the hamburger consumption and visit to the fast food outlets. You have to conduct a small scale, qualitative research, and present your findings that will support the decision of the McDonald’s.
[100 marks]
Instructions
The assignments are designed in such a way that students are able to demonstrate understanding of theories, principles and concepts and also applying them in the real world. The presentation must be in academic writing and style with proper citations and references. The recommended referencing method is the Harvard Referencing. The similarity of the contents and the online sources will be verified using an online software (like Turn-it-in) and the maximum limit of similarity is 20%, even though the sources are duly acknowledged and citations are made in the text. Moreover, collusion is a serious academic offense, hence there will be a strong and serious punishment in accordance with the existing rules and regulations of MBA programme of the University.
The number of words for each assignment is 2,500 words and 10% variation is allowed. If it exceeds 10% in length, those beyond the maximum limit will be ignored.
The proper referencing method is required. Here, it is recommended to apply Harvard Referencing System The minimum of list of references is also set as 20 academic publications. Plagiarism check is required and the similarity index should not exceed 20%, even though there is proper citation. In submitting the hardcopy of an assignment, it is also required to include a singed form of “Statement of Originality”. (Download this form from the Google Site.)
The assignment questions are to be presented in ‘essay’ format. The text must be in Time News Roman font and the font size should be 12 with 1.5 line spacing.
The presentation should use own writing and examples from Myanmar context.
In the group assignment, it is important to show that the work is done by the group. So, it is necessary to submit the allocation of work, if any, and the work diary.
The submission date is usually in the last day of lecture and the specific date will be announced later.
Note also that the late submission will be penalized by deducting 5% of total marks for every late day.
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